Why The GOP Can No Longer Be Trusted On National Defense

By FRED KAPLAN

WASHINGTON — It’s been clear, at least since the 2012 election, that the Republican Party has abrogated its role — really, abandoned any interest — in shaping or seriously discussing American foreign policy. But only recently has this indifference shifted into toxic territory, and on Tuesday the fumes formed a poisonous cloud, the likes of which hadn’t been witnessed in decades.

The occasion was the Senate Armed Services Committee’s vote on Chuck Hagel’s nomination as secretary of defense — a nomination now being held up by an unprecedented Republican filibuster.

--CLIP
A TASTE FOR THE TRIVAL

They asked almost nothing about the issues that will face the next defense secretary: the budget, the roles and missions of the Army, the balance of drones vs. manned aircraft, the size of the Navy, the future of Afghanistan, or the “pivot” from Europe to Asia.

Instead, they hectored the nominee about the adequacy of his fealty toward Israel, his animosity toward Iran, and whether he was right or wrong about the 2007 troop-surge in Iraq.

There was all that in the follow-up session on Tuesday, plus a whiff of paranoia and sedition that’s rarely been cracked open since the days of Joseph McCarthy.

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